1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an access point for a wireless local area network, and more particularly, to an access point that can be mounted on a flat surface or on a wall.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Computer networks enable people to conveniently transmit, receive, and share all kinds of data and information with each other. Furthermore, recently developed wireless computer networks eliminate the restriction of wires, and allow people to be on-line as long as they are within a service range. Wireless computer networks also spur the development of many portable products such as portable computers, PDAs, and cellular phones. With wireless networks, people can transmit data and messages and communicate with each other making their lives more convenient and flexible.
In a wired network, data is transmitted by network transmission lines. Wireless networks do not utilize network transmission lines as data is transmitted and received wirelessly. A wireless network utilizes an access point for receiving and transmitting signals. Since the signals in a wireless network are transmitted wirelessly, the signals are exposed and can be easily intercepted. To avoid data from being stolen, the data must be encrypted appropriately before being transmitted. To achieve this purpose, a key ID must be available at every access point and every terminal of the wireless local area network for encrypting and decrypting the transmitted data. Since different local area networks have different key IDs and key IDs are secured, transmitted data cannot be stolen by terminals located in different local area networks.
Additionally, a wireless network can connect with a wired network using a network transmission line, which is connected to the access point of the wireless network. Therefore, data can be transmitted between the wireless and the wired network through the access point.
As mentioned above, the access point plays an important role in a wireless network. The prior art access point is generally placed on a table or a flat surface, and communicates data from an antenna set located on top. However, the prior art access point has no alternate placement because of the limitation of the design of its external shape. Therefore, when the surrounding environment changes, it is difficult for the prior art access point to be placed appropriately to adapt to the new environment. Users can add extra devices or connectors to help this situation, however, these extra devices or connectors make the product more complicated and add to production costs and time. Therefore, there are still some problems to be solved with the prior art access point.